


Hotel Koshien

by Sanae



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2319131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanae/pseuds/Sanae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in chapter 78, during their trip to Koshien. The Nishiura boys have all gone to their hotel rooms to sleep, except Tajima is bored and decides he must go and rescue Mihashi. Of course, shenanigans ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hotel Koshien

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ookiku Furikabutte, sadly, it's property of Higuchi Asa-sensei.
> 
> Warning: Possible spoilers up to chapter 78. Also, general silliness and fluff, lots of it.
> 
> Pairings: Nishiura Team Bonding, subtext for the usual ones.
> 
> Originally Published on April 3rd 2012 in Fanfiction.net

HOTEL KOSHIEN

It had been less than ten minutes since the end of the meeting, his head had barely touched the pillow when, to his profound astonishment, baseball wonder boy Tajima Yuuichiro heard soft snoring coming from the bed next to his. Sighing in frustration, he damned his luck for having Shiga-sensei pairing him up with the second most boring person in the whole team: Captain Hanai Azusa.

The gold medal for this "award" went, of course, to the team's catcher: control freak extraordinaire Abe Takaya, a.k.a. The-Bossiest-Human-Being-Alive. It was beyond Tajima's comprehension how their pitcher managed to put up with being constantly ordered around by him. Again, Mihashi Ren seemed to feel a fascinating mix of adoration and sheer terror towards his battery partner and would probably chop off his pitching arm rather than doing anything that could even remotely upset the catcher.

Musing this while staring at the room's white ceiling, Tajima found himself unable to sleep simply because his hyperactive mind refused to shut down. He tried switching positions, in hope of finding a more comfortable one. He even considered pleasuring himself in an attempt to relax but, ultimately, he opted to just admitting the truth: he was bored out of his mind and he had to do something about it.

After the day's events, with their first proper visit to the Koshien Stadium and everything that had happened during the day, he felt it was a little anticlimactic to just fall asleep and wait for the next day's practice with Touri High School's Baseball Team. For this reason, he decided that he had to go and get Mihashi and do something fun together.

Sitting up on his bed, he placed his feet onto the carpeted floor. Then, he spent a few moments staring at Hanai's face. He grinned in spite of himself when he noticed how different the oh-so-tough-and-serious Nishiura Captain looked in his sleep: his brow, which was usually creased by a worried frown, appeared now relaxed and even his lips were slightly curved up forming a soft smile. Tajima then noticed that Hanai had his hands carefully placed on top of his tummy, his left hand covering his right one. For once, the guy looked completely calm and at peace with the world.

Before that sight could make him change his mind, Tajima crushed any budding guilt he might have felt and got up from his bed. After taking a few tentative steps, he glanced back at Hanai looking out for any telling signs that the Captain was about to wake up.

He wasn't.

'Good,' Tajima silently muttered to himself.

Padding towards the door he grabbed the pair of slippers provided by the hotel in his right hand and, with his left one, he went to pull the card out of the slot where Hanai had left it. Tajima knew that this would cut off the electricity in the room but alas, he would need the card to get back into the room and it wasn't like Hanai would need any light on while he slept.

The louder than expected clicking sound it made startled him for a moment then, not giving it a second thought, he rushed to open the door as quickly but silently as it was humanly possible then, poking his head out, he stared at the door in front of him, that of Room 401, the one where Shiga-sensei stayed. He waited to see if the teacher would come out of his room and when he did not, Tajima threw a quick glance at the corridor, noting that neither Shiga-sensei nor Momokan seemed to be patrolling the area.

At long last, he stepped out of the room and, just as carefully, he shut the door closed behind him.

Before daring to move, he strained his ears trying to catch any sound that would mean Hanai had woken up. Nothing happened and, finally feeling safe enough, he started putting his plan into motion.

The six rooms the Nishiura Baseball Team had booked in the fourth floor were laid out in a way that the odd numbered ones, 401, 403 and 405 were on Tajima's left while the even ones, 402, 404 and 406 were on his right. Having left behind Rooms 401 and 402, he heard some very faint sound coming from Room 403, the one shared by shortstop Suyama Shoji and leftfield Mizutani Fumiki.

He didn't stop to try and figure out what the noise was, instead, he turned to his right, facing the door to Room 404. It was the room occupied by secondbase Sakaeguchi Yuuto and centerfield Izumi Kosuke. A new thought sprouted in his mind and, stepping closer to the door, he decided to knock on it ever-so-lightly, hoping that the noise would not be heard in neither of the adjacent rooms.

Tajima then waited for an instant and was honestly surprised when he saw the door's metallic handle moving downwards. A second later, he saw the secondbase's head poking out of the door.

'Tajima!' Sakaeguchi exclaimed in an absurdly loud tone of voice.

Without waiting to be invited in, Tajima just rushed inside the room, pushing Sakaeguchi out of the way.

'Hey…' the poor guy tried to protest but Tajima was already inside the room.

Closing the door, careful not to make any noise, Tajima turned round and furiously whispered:

'Idiot, you'll wake the whole hotel!'

Sakaeguchi looked suitably sorry and lowering his tone of voice to match Tajima's, he asked:

'What are you doing here?'

Before Tajima could reply, they heard Izumi getting up from his bed.

'What's going on?' he mumbled in a sleepy voice.

'It's Tajima,' Sakaeguchi helpfully explained.

'What?' Izumi asked sounding suddenly awake. Yet again, the thought of having the team's best batter in the room could only mean trouble and Izumi knew he would need to be in full alert, just in case.

'I'm bored,' Tajima announced, confirming Izumi's worst fears, 'and we're going to rescue Mihashi.'

'Rescue?' Sakaeguchi asked looking alarmed, 'is he in trouble?'

'Of course he is,' Tajima said, 'he's with Abe!'

'He does have a point,' Izumi observed.

'Guys…' Sakaeguchi started.

'Are you in?' Tajima asked to no one in particular.

'You know I am,' Izumi said, 'if anything so that someone can keep an eye on you.'

'Perfect!' Tajima said not even bothering to take offence.

'Guys…' Sakaeguchi tried again.

'You can't stop us,' Tajima warned him.

'I'm not going to,' Sakaeguchi assured him, 'I just wanted to know if I could join you since you're obviously going to have heaps of fun and I wouldn't miss that for the world.'

'That's the spirit,' Tajima said clapping the secondbase on the shoulder, 'now, let's go.'

'Wait a minute,' Izumi stopped him grabbing his arm, 'we need to tell Mizutani. If we leave him out of this, we'll never hear the end of it and you know it.'

'That's true,' Tajima admitted.

'Alright, give me a sec,' Izumi said. He then walked to the night table that was placed in between the two single beds and, taking his mobile phone, he flipped it open and started typing a text message.

'What are you doing?' Tajima wanted to know.

'Texting Mizutani,' Izumi replied without lifting his eyes from the small keypad.

'Oh,' Tajima gasped then, pulling his own phone from the back pocket of his tracksuit pants, he asked himself out loud, 'I wonder why I didn't think of texting Mihashi before.'

'Because I happen to use my brain,' Izumi deadpanned.

Tajima just ignored him while he too started typing and Sakaeguchi tried not to burst out laughing.

'Sent,' Izumi and Tajima announced at the same time.

'What now?' Sakaeguchi asked.

'Now we wait till they reply,' Izumi answered.

He had barely pronounced those words when they clearly heard a door opening and closing. That made Tajima cringe and both him an Sakaeguchi found themselves holding their breath. Izumi reacted faster than they did and rushed to open the door just as Mizutani was readying himself to knock on it.

'Hey!' the redhead said with his usual cheery tone.

'Shut up and come in,' Izumi ordered him in a whisper.

Mizutani hurried inside and soon, all four boys were sitting on top of the twin beds, Izumi started filling Mizutani in with the whole plan while they waited for Mihashi to reply to Tajima's text.

'I think he's asleep,' ventured Mizutani when, five minutes later, the pitcher hadn't texted Tajima back.

'No way,' Tajima said.

'What if he is?' Izumi insisted.

They all considered their options for a moment but only Sakaeguchi seemed brave enough to say:

'What if we just leave him alone? I mean, if he's asleep and…'

'No way,' Tajima repeated, 'we'll just go and get him.'

'Tajima,' Izumi said doing his best to be patient, 'I know you're a genius and all but, how exactly are you planning to get into Mihashi's room if he's sleeping and can't open the door for us?'

'Er…'

'I knew it,' a resigned Izumi said getting back up, 'just wait here.'

The centerfield just left without offering a further explanation and leaving all three boys with the distinct impression they were missing out on some very important information. Five more minutes went by and an increasingly impatient Tajima was about to get up so he could get on with his plan when Izumi came back into the room with the sort of smile that spelt out: mission accomplished.

'Where did you go?' Tajima asked him.

'To get this,' Izumi replied producing one of the card keys from the hotel.

'Is that…' Mizutani started.

'It's a copy of Mihashi's room's key,' Izumi explained.

'Where did you get it?' Sakaeguchi asked staring at the thing as if it were something illegal.

'Easy,' Izumi replied, 'I went to the reception and told the lady there that I had just stepped out of the room to get some snacks when I realised that I had left the card inside. I told her that my roommate is asleep and I can't wake him up so she made a copy of the key if I promised her that I would give it back first thing in the morning.'

'Wow,' Tajima gasped, 'you're amazingly sneaky.'

'Thanks…I think,' Izumi said not really sure whether it was a compliment or not. He preferred to think it was.

'Alright,' Tajima said, 'let's go.'

'Wait,' Mizutani said.

'What now?' an exasperated Tajima asked.

'Even if we can get inside Mihashi's room,' Mizutani replied, 'if he's asleep and he wakes up…'

'That won't happen,' Tajima was quick to assure him.

'How do you know?' Izumi asked.

'Because waking Mihashi up it's really hard,' Tajima explained, 'that guy has some sort of special skill.'

'That might be true,' Sakaeguchi intervened, 'but I know for a fact that Abe is a very light sleeper.'

'Which is why we need to be extra quiet,' Tajima said.

'That's right,' Mizutani agreed, 'if Abe wakes up and finds us trying to take Mihashi away…'

'…at best,' a worried Izumi continued, 'Abe will kill us all…'

'…at worst,' Tajima finished, 'he'll report us to Momokan and then she'll kill us all.'

Hearing this made all four of them shudder in absolute horror.

'Okay,' a resolute Tajima said, 'we need to be like ninja, starting now.'

With the three other boys nodding their agreement, they all started tip-toeing their way out of the room. Carefully opening the door, closing it with equal care, Tajima took the lead while Sakaeguchi guarded the back of the group. All four of them had their ears and eyes wide open, ready to react to any noise.

In spite of that extra precaution, they all felt like jumping out of their skin when, all of a sudden, they saw a head poking out of Room 406. Sakaeguchi just froze in terror while Mizutani went to hug Izumi.

'Guys?' firstbase Oki Kazutoshi asked looking every bit as surprised as they did.

'Oki,' Tajima hissed, 'are you trying to kill us?'

'Sorry,' Oki quickly apologised, 'but what are you doing out here anyway?'

'You probably don't want to know,' Izumi said while he removed Mizutani's arms from around his person.

'But guys…'

'We're going to get Mihashi,' Sakaeguchi explained.

'Oh,' Oki gasped in surprise, 'really?'

'Yes, now get back in your room or…' Tajima started.

'I think I'll join you,' Oki decided.

'Do whatever you want,' Izumi finally conceded.

'But be extra-quiet,' Tajima said beginning to regret not having gone straight to get Mihashi, strictly.

Oki nodded and closed the door to the room he shared with Nishiura's only non-regular player Nishihiro Shintaro. Then, the now five-man group turned around to face Room 405: THE ROOM THAT MATTERED.

'Okay guys, this is the plan,' Tajima explained as quietly as he could, 'Oki: you'll stay here watching the corridor; Sakaeguchi: you'll hold the door once we get it open; Izumi, Mizutani and I will go in there to get Mihashi.'

'Why me?' Mizutani dared to complain.

Tajima ignored him and, instead, he took the card Izumi had in his hand.

Steeling his nerves, he willed himself to think of a Third Runner while pushed the key into the slot as softly as he could. He winced when he heard the absurdly loud noise the mechanism made as it released the door's lock. This made them all swallow and hold their breath again while they readied themselves to start running as fast as they could. Thankfully, it seemed that the noise had not been loud enough to wake Abe up and, after a few more moments, Tajima felt it was safe to open the door all the way.

The room was dark and extra quiet. They didn't even hear any snoring. Tajima laughed internally thinking that trust Abe to be so under control that he wouldn't even allow himself to snore in his sleep.

Leaving Oki outside and Sakaeguchi at the door, the remaining trio entered the beast's den, padding on the carpeted floor hoping they were being as quiet as a kitty. Finally, they saw Abe sleeping on the bed closer to the bathroom, like the old man he was, Izumi thought sarcastically. The catcher had his injured leg propped up by an extra pillow and that made Izumi instantly regret his sarcastic thoughts.

On the other bed, they found Mihashi. The pitcher was sleeping while hugging his blanket and, for a wild moment, Tajima thought of taking a picture because he had never seen anything cuter in his whole life.

Pulling himself together, he signaled to Mizutani to go and grab his legs while Izumi moved up and grabbed Mihashi under his armpits. Tajima, keeping an eye on Abe, went to help lifting Mihashi by pushing his hands under the pitcher's back.

'One, two, three,' he silently muttered.

At the "three" they somehow managed to get Mihashi up and, without losing momentum, Izumi and Mizutani started dragging him away from the bed. Tajima bent down to gather Mihashi's slippers and quickly followed them out of the room. Sakaeguchi then took care of quietly closing the door.

Less than five seconds later, they all released a collective sigh of relief.

'Alright, now what?' Mizutani whispered while he and Izumi tried to keep a still sleeping Mihashi upright.

'I don't know,' was Tajima's surprising reply.

'What do you mean, you don't know?' Sakaeguchi asked in disbelief, the others were too stunned to talk.

'Hey,' Tajima defended himself, 'my plan only went as far as getting Mihashi.'

'I should have known,' Izumi commented almost as if he was talking to himself.

'So,' Oki asked just to be clear, 'we have no plan?'

They all remained silent for a bit then, letting out a frustrated sigh, Izumi ordered them all:

'Alright, follow me.'

Without waiting to see if they complied with his order, Izumi, helped by Mizutani, dragged the sleeping Mihashi towards the elevator. Sakaeguchi helpfully pressed the calling button and, an instant later, all six of them got on board the roomy cabin. Only then Tajima asked:

'Where are we going?'

'To the terrace,' Izumi replied pushing the button to go all the way up to the top-most floor.

'Oh,' Sakaeguchi gasped, 'I've read about it in the hotel's leaflet it's supposed to…'

He never finished the sentence because, at the same time as the elevator's door slid closed and it started moving upwards, Mihashi finally decided to wake up. Needless to say, the poor pitcher was so disoriented that his stammer was worse than ever:

'W-w-whe-where…'

'Hey there,' Tajima said cheerfully.

'T-ta-t-taji…ma…kun…'

'You were sleeping and we came to get you out of your room,' Tajima explained as if kidnapping people in their sleep was the most common occurrence in the world.

Mihashi simply lost his ability to speak.

'Don't worry,' Sakaeguchi said patting him in his shoulder, 'you're safe.'

The pitcher looked at the secondbase not really feeling quite so optimistic. Then, something finally clicked in his half-asleep brain and a look of sheer terror appeared on his otherwise cute face.

'A-A-Abe…Abe-kun,' he somehow managed to say, 'he…he's going to k-ki-kill me!'

'Probably,' Izumi was quick to agree.

'I have to…I have to go back!' Mihashi exclaimed and, for some reason, he rushed to the elevator's door as if he was planning to climb out of it while still in motion. Thankfully, both Mizutani and Izumi stopped him from even trying.

'Stay with us,' Mizutani said.

'That's right,' Izumi agreed, 'think about it: if you go back now, you might wake Abe up anyway and then he'll tell you off for leaving the room without his permission.'

'Isn't it better that if he does get mad at you, you'll at least have had some fun first?' Tajima asked him.

Mihashi seemed to debate the issue and by the time the elevator finished the ride up to the very last floor and while the doors were sliding back open, he sighed and said:

'I-I guess…I guess you're right.'

'Of course we are!' Tajima exclaimed happily.

With that settled, the thirdbase just stepped out of the elevator. The rest of the gang followed him to a wide glass door that had a sign stuck on it indicating that it was the way out to the terrace. Pushing it open, Tajima had the wisdom to first check if there was anyone there. Thankfully it seemed to be empty, partially because it was a little chilly but mostly because the other guests were probably having dinner or were at the bar downstairs. Either way, they had the terrace all to themselves.

'This is so cool!' Mizutani exclaimed running around it for no apparent reason.

'Hey, these are comfy,' Oki said taking a seat on one of the cushion covered chairs.

'Look at that!' Sakaeguchi said pointing at the city night view that was visible from the terrace.

'Wow,' was all that Mihashi could say then, almost as if he were talking to himself, he added, 'I wish I could take a picture, Abe-kun…he w-would love to see this.'

'Really?' Sakaeguchi asked him.

'Y-yeah,' Mihashi replied still admiring the view, 'he-he likes this kind of things, I think…'

'It's great you're getting to know him so well,' Sakaeguchi commented quietly, 'however, I don't think it would be a good idea to take a picture of this.'

'W-why not?' Mihashi asked.

'Well,' Sakaeguchi patiently explained, 'if you take a picture of the view, how are you going to explain to Abe how you got it?'

'Ah…oh…I see,' Mihashi said blushing a little, 'Sakaeguchi-kun is so clever!'

The secondbase smiled at the pitcher and was going to say that he wasn't particularly smart when, all of a sudden, they heard Tajima asking everyone to take a seat around one of the terrace's tables so that they could play some game. On this table, they saw that some snacks had magically appeared, in reality, Oki, Tajima and Mizutani had just got some stuff from a nearby vending machine.

'What are we going to play?' Mizutani asked helping himself to a packet of crisps.

'I have an idea,' Izumi announced, 'let's play Truth or Dare.'

'Truth or Dare?' Tajima repeated, looking doubtful of the quality of the idea.

'Do you have a better suggestion?' Izumi challenged him.

'Er…we could…' Tajima started then, giving up, he said, 'no, I don't.'

'I thought so,' Izumi said smiling triumphantly.

'How are we going to play?' Oki asked.

'Easy,' Izumi replied, 'since I suggested the game, I'll be the first to ask.'

'That's not fair!' Mizutani protested.

'It is,' Izumi insisted, 'now,' he said glancing straight at Mihashi, 'Truth or Dare?'

'M-me?' Mihashi asked pointing at himself.

'Yes, you,' Izumi confirmed.

'Er…'

'Go easy on him,' Tajima warned Izumi.

'Don't worry, I will,' Izumi reassured both him and Mihashi, 'I won't ask anything too personal.'

'Oh…okay,' Mihashi said, 't-then…I'll take T-truth.'

'Great,' Izumi said, 'I've always wanted to ask you this: you're still really afraid of Abe, aren't you?'

Everyone remained quiet while Mihashi seemed to ponder whether he wanted to answer the question then, to their surprise, he looked down at the table and, giving an almost imperceptible nod, he said:

'I am.'

'Then why don't you tell him to stop doing what scares you?' Izumi pressed on, 'I mean, you guys seem to be a little more open with each other, aren't you?'

This time Mihashi looked up and said:

'It's not his fault.'

'But…'

'He's really trying so hard,' Mihashi insisted, 'I…I know I have…we have lots…lots to work on. B-but, he's trying very hard to…to improve for me. I owe him so much,' the pitcher continued, 'and even…even if he's…scary, it's just sometimes and it's…it's not his fault. I know that…I just…I get startled and…'

'You really admire him, don't you?' Sakaeguchi asked gently.

'Yes,' Mihashi replied with unwavering conviction, 'Abe-kun is amazing.'

'I'm sorry I asked you this,' Izumi said, 'I didn't mean to upset you.'

'N-no...it's fine,' Mihashi reassured him, 'I'm fine.'

'Alright, my turn,' Tajima exclaimed, 'Izumi, how often do you masturbate?'

'It's not your turn!' Izumi protested, 'it's Mihashi's, since he answered the question.'

'Er…' the pitcher hesitated.

'Mihashi,' Tajima said shamelessly, 'ask him how often he masturbates.'

Mihashi just blushed a little before he nodded once and then looked at Izumi expectantly.

'Bastard,' Izumi spat in Tajima's direction. Tajima limited himself to grin and cross his arms as if he were not-so-patiently waiting for an answer.

'I won't tell you that,' Izumi said.

'So!' Tajima exclaimed triumphantly, 'you're admitting that you DO jerk off every now and then!'

'I didn't say that either!'

'Which one is it then?' Mizutani asked looking obscenely curious, 'you do or do not?'

'Why are we talking about this?' Izumi asked sounding a little desperate.

'Because you suggested this game,' Tajima explained, 'now, answer the question or you'll have to dare.'

'I take Dare then,' Izumi said having finally found a loophole.

'Dare to tell us who you think about while you jerk off,' Mizutani said earning a high five from Tajima.

'I'm going to kill you,' Izumi glared at Mizutani, 'slowly and painfully.'

'Right,' Mizutani said looking thoroughly unfazed, 'now, do answer the question.'

Everyone found themselves staring intently at the poor Izumi who, finally gave up and said:

'Alright, I do that very occasionally.'

'Do what?' Tajima taunted.

'That,' Izumi insisted.

'Izumi refuses to play this game,' Mizutani complained out loud as if he were announcing it to the world.

'He should pay a penalty,' Tajima agreed.

'Alright, alright!' Izumi exclaimed, 'I very occasionally masturbate, okay? Happy?'

'Immensely,' Tajima had the cheek to say.

'But you haven't answered the question,' Mizutani pointed out.

'Oh, can we please move on?' Izumi asked throwing a desperate glance at Sakaeguchi who, predictably, took pity on him and was about to speak up when they all first heard then saw the glass door opening.

The frenzy that ensued was something epic: in less than two seconds, they managed to gather the few packets of snacks and drinks and rush towards the nearest hiding spot they could find all trying incredibly hard to even breathe as quietly as possible.

'Oki?' they heard a very familiar sounding voice asking, 'Oki, are you there?'

'NISHIHIRO!' Mizutani protested angrily.

'You nearly gave us all a heart attack!' Oki added while the rest of the gang started coming out.

'What are you doing here?' Nishihiro asked his roommate.

'What does it look like?' Tajima asked instead.

'We're just having fun,' Sakaeguchi explained, 'but how did you know we were here?'

'I didn't,' Nishihiro said, 'I just woke up and I saw that Oki wasn't in the room. At first, I thought he was in the bathroom but when he didn't come out of it I went to check and he wasn't there either. Then I stepped out of the room to look in the corridor but the door closed behind me and since I didn't have the card with me, I figured Oki probably had taken it with him and I went looking for him so that I could get back into the room.'

'I see,' Izumi said, 'and you found us here.'

'It's a good thing I did,' Nishihiro said, 'I was about to go to your room,' he added glancing at Tajima.

'Why?' the fourth batter asked.

'Well, it's where Hanai is,' Nishihiro said, 'I…'

'Are you an idiot?' Mizutani said, 'that's the LAST thing you should ever do!'

'He's right,' Tajima said.

'Guys, guys,' Sakaeguchi intervened, 'it's okay, he's here now.'

'He is,' Izumi agreed then, he glanced around and asked, 'but, where is Mihashi?'

All six of them looked around the terrace and noticed that, in fact, their pitcher was still hidden.

'Mihashi,' Tajima called him, 'you can come out now!'

The pitcher didn't give any signs of showing up anytime soon so they all started looking for him. A few minutes later, Mizutani found him hiding beneath a pile of old cushions that had been discarded in one of the faraway corners of the terrace, in an area that was clearly off limits for the guests. It was quite the job for the guys to convince Mihashi that it was safe to come out, when he finally did, they saw that he was covered in dust and grime.

'Let's get you cleaned up,' Mizutani suggested taking pity on the poor guy.

'Mihashi!' Tajima exclaimed in amazement, 'you're really good at playing hide-and-seek!'

While Mihashi blushed furiously, Sakaeguchi refrained himself from speaking but he thought that the pitcher's had probably honed his concealing skills during his three years of being bullied in junior high. A quick glance with Izumi confirmed that his team mate shared his very depressing thoughts.

Trying to get the evening back on track, they all sat back down around the table and Tajima asked Izumi to continue the game. The centerfield was only too happy to oblige and, with a glint of malice in his eyes, he turned to Mizutani who had just started eating another packet of crisps.

'What?' the redhead asked, looking a little freaked out.

'It's your turn,' Izumi announced sounding immensely happy.

'What? No, wait, but…'

'What are we playing at?' Nishihiro muttered speaking to Oki.

'Truth or Dare,' the firstbase replied, 'and it's Mizutani's turn to choose one.'

'Go on,' Tajima encouraged.

'Er…' Mizutani hesitated, 'okay, let me think, I…'

'Pick or I'll pick for you,' Izumi said.

'You're enjoying this too much,' Mizutani complained.

'You have no idea,' Izumi admitted, leaving Mizutani nearly speechless.

'Alright, alright,' Mizutani said, 'Truth, I pick truth or…'

'Truth it is,' Tajima sentenced then, glancing at Izumi, he said, 'what are you going to ask him?'

Izumi leant towards Tajima and quickly whispered into the thirdbase's ear.

'Nice question!' the baseball prodigy exclaimed in full approval.

'I know,' Izumi said then, looked straight at Mizutani, he asked, 'tell us the name of your crush.'

'Crush?' Mizutani asked back, as if he didn't understand the meaning of that word.

'Yep,' Izumi replied, 'tell us the name of the person you like.'

Mizutani flashed a glare at Izumi before turning bright pink. Even Mihashi seemed to start paying attention and the terrace filled with a very heavy silent as they all stared at poor Mizutani who seemed to want to be anywhere but there.

'I want to take Dare,' he finally announced.

'No way,' Tajima said, 'you can't change now.'

'Izumi did!' Mizutani complained.

'Yeah,' Izumi said, 'but it didn't make any difference so, go ahead, tell us.'

'I don't want to,' Mizutani said.

'So,' Oki commented, 'there's someone you like then.'

'Oki!' Mizutani protested, 'don't you start you too!'

'Guys,' Sakaeguchi suggested, trying to help his team mate, 'why don't we just ask him to do something instead?'

'Yeah, yeah,' Mizutani was quick to agree, 'I'll do anything!'

'Anything?' Izumi asked, the malicious glint back in his eyes.

'Anything Sakaeguchi comes up with,' Mizutani specified.

'That's NOT what the game is like, ' Tajima protested, 'besides, I want to know the answer to the question.'

'So do I,' Izumi agreed, 'come on, tell us.'

'You don't know her,' Mizutani finally said.

'We don't?' Izumi asked, 'but, I thought…Shinooka…'

'NO!' an alarmed Mizutani exclaimed being unnecessarily loud, 'I do not like Shinooka, why would I like Shinooka? There's no way I can like Shinooka, no way on earth.'

'Alright, alright,' Izumi said finding the denial a little too specific, 'if you say so.'

'Yeah, yeah, I say so,' a desperate Mizutani said then, turning round to the newly arrived Nishihiro, he almost barked at him to choose between, 'Truth or Dare?'

'Eh, me?' the reserve player asked.

'Yes, go on,' Mizutani said, he seemed to be eager to remove the attention from his person.

'Alright, I'll pick truth too,' Nishihiro replied.

'That's boring!' Tajima complained.

'Maybe not,' Sakaeguchi said, 'Mizutani, why don't you ask him what's the most embarrassing thing he's ever done?'

'Nice,' Mizutani said while the rest of the table nodded their agreement, 'Nishihiro, answer that.'

'Oh, that's easy,' Nishihiro replied looking very relieved, 'the most embarrassing thing I've ever done was joining this team.'

'Eh?' Tajima frowned, getting serious all of a sudden.

'What do you mean by that?' Izumi asked not looking impressed either.

'Are we that embarrassing?' Sakaeguchi asked him with a worried tone of voice.

'Wait!' Nishihiro exclaimed, 'that's NOT what I meant…it's a long story…'

'Well, explain yourself then,' Oki almost commanded him.

'You see,' Nishihiro said, 'I…it's a little silly…but, back in junior high I read a lot of manga, I still do.'

'You're an otaku?' Tajima asked him.

'Yes I am,' Nishihiro admitted.

'That's so cool!' the thirdbase exclaimed, 'it's weird but…so cool!'

'Let him continue with the story,' Izumi begged him.

'Well,' Nishihiro said, 'I happened to read a lot of sports manga and I always wanted to see what it would feel like to be part of a real sports team.'

'Why did you pick baseball then?' Sakaeguchi asked.

'Because it's the sport I read the most about,' Nishihiro explained.

'Seriously?' Izumi asked, 'that's the only reason?'

'Yeah,' Nishihiro said, 'that and the uniform.'

'The uniform?' Mizutani and Oki asked at the same time.

'Yeah,' Nishihiro replied, 'I've always wanted to wear one. You know,' he shared, 'on the first day wearing it, I really felt like I was in some sort of hyper-realistic cosplay event.'

'Cosplay?' Mihashi suddenly asked, getting a little red in the face.

'Not that sort of cosplay,' Izumi told him.

'Oh,' the pitcher said, sounding so thoroughly disappointed that everyone burst out laughing. Even Mihashi smiled a little, his expression in between embarrassed and a little pleased that he had somehow managed to amuse his team mates.

'So that's the story,' Nishihiro said once everyone calmed down a bit.

'It really is the weirdest reason I've ever heard for someone to join a school club,' Izumi commented.

'Well…' Sakaeguchi said then, he stopped himself but not in time for Tajima to ask:

'What, you have an even weirder story?'

'No, no,' Sakaeguchi hurried to reply, 'it was nothing special.'

'You joined the team together with Abe, right?' Mizutani asked him.

'Yes,' Sakaeguchi replied, 'that's right: I joined because Abe was going to be in the team.'

'I'm so jealous,' Mihashi muttered clearly talking to himself out loud.

'Why is that?' Sakaeguchi asked him gently.

Mihashi looked startled for a moment then, doing his best to recover, he tried formulating a reply:

'I…well…I…you…Abe-kun, you've known…longer and….I…'

'Ah,' Sakaeguchi offered him a kind smile, 'you're jealous because I've known Abe longer than you?'

Mihashi simply nodded once.

'Geez, you really like Abe, don't you?' Izumi asked him and, for some reason Mihashi's face turned bright red and, as every time he felt supremely embarrassed, the pitcher seemed to shrink in size.

'That's kind of gross,' Mizutani commented.

'What's so gross about liking a team mate?' Tajima asked him.

'Er…'

'That's right,' Sakaeguchi said giving Mihashi a comforting grin, 'there's nothing wrong with that.'

That seemed to calm the pitcher enough for him to speak:

'Abe-kun...he…works so hard and…I…admire him so…so much…even though he's so good, he still…he works very hard for the team. I…I like him a lot.'

Tajima stared at him for a little bit. His expression became unusually serious when he started thinking of Mihashi's words. He knew that the pitcher was right and Abe was one of the most hardworking people Tajima had ever met. Granted, the guy got on his nerves sometimes but that didn't stop Tajima from accepting that there wasn't anyone who was committed to this team as much as the catcher.

Well, excepting Hanai, a little voice told Tajima.

This though made him feel a little startled. Ultimately though, he had to admit that they were lucky they had such a capable Captain. With him in charge of the team, Tajima felt that he could take things a little easier and focus most of his energies on doing his job as fourth batter the best way he could and, for that, he really was grateful to his Captain.

'Hey, we're running out of snacks!' Tajima heard Mizutani's voice exclaiming, taking him out of his reverie, 'whose turn is it to get more?'

'I'll go,' Nishihiro offered himself.

'Do you have enough money?' Oki wondered.

'Luckily, I always carry my wallet with me,' the reserve replied.

'I know that,' Oki commented, 'I'll come and help.'

'Wait,' Mizutani said talking to Nishihiro, 'you're supposed to pick someone to choose his truth or dare.'

'Ah,' Nishihiro gasped, then, he glanced at Tajima and said, 'truth or dare?'

'There's no point asking him that,' Sakaeguchi observed.

'Why not?' Nishihiro asked.

'It's Tajima,' Izumi replied, as if that was enough of an explanation.

'That's right,' Sakaeguchi added nevertheless, 'Tajima's physically unable to tell a lie. Besides, it's not like there's anything he's ashamed of, is there?'

'There is,' Tajima said surprising everyone.

'Really?' Izumi asked.

'Well…' Tajima said, he clearly recalled what he'd just been thinking, of all the times he could have been more supportive to Hanai. He considered saying that but, for the first time in his life, he thought that maybe he didn't want to share that particular piece of his mind with anyone so, instead, he said, 'no, there isn't.'

'See?' Sakaeguchi said looking satisfied, 'let's just plan a good Dare for him,' he suggested to Nishihiro.

'Okay,' the number 10 replied, 'let me think about it while Oki and I go and get munchies.'

'Munchies?' Izumi laughed, 'who uses that expression!'

'Er…'

'Let's go,' Oki said trying to steer Nishihiro away from the laughing group.

By the time the two came back from their trip to the vending machine, their five team mates had calmed down a bit and while Sakaeguchi tried to chat with Mihashi (very brave of him, Oki quietly observed), Mizutani, Izumi and Tajima were messing around throwing at each other what seemed to be balls made out of the empty snack packets. This gave Nishihiro an idea for the dare.

'Alright,' the guy said setting down several new packets of snacks as well as a few bottles containing soft drinks, 'I've decided what Tajima will do.'

This made everyone stop doing what they were doing and look at him instead.

'Go on,' Tajima said.

'Er…give me a sec,' Nishihiro said then, for some reason, he glanced around himself at the terrace, as if he were looking for something. He obviously found it because, just then, he ran towards the terrace's railing and, there, he pulled one of the wooden sticks that held what seemed to be one of those garden torches.

'Hey!' Sakaeguchi exclaimed, 'you can't do that! It's vandalism!'

'It'll be fine,' Nishihiro said, 'I'll put it back in there when we're done.'

'But…'

'What am I supposed to do with that?' Tajima wanted to know.

'Easy,' Nishihiro said removing the torch from the top of the stick, after making sure he could screw it back on. He then grabbed a few of the balls the boys had been playing with and, looking at Tajima, he proceeded to explain his idea, 'using this,' he said showing the stick, 'and those,' showing a couple of the balled up packets, 'we'll get Mihashi to throw them at you and, if you miss more than one, you'll pay a penalty.'

'That sounds fun!' Tajima exclaimed.

'That's not fair,' Mizutani protested, 'he'll hit them all!'

'I wouldn't be so sure,' Sakaeguchi said.

'That's right,' Izumi agreed, 'it's dark and that stick isn't a bat and those balls aren't regular enough to predict the trajectory with the same level of accuracy as he would do with a normal baseball.'

Tajima, instead of discouraged by the prospect, seemed even more eager to get started.

'Okay,' Mizutani conceded, 'in that case, let's not have Mihashi throwing the pitches.'

Instantly, they heard a loud gasp followed up with some very quiet sobs.

'Oh no!' Sakaeguchi hurried to the pitcher's aid, 'what's wrong?'

'I…I…I can pitch!' Mihashi exclaimed looking slightly desperate.

'We know you can,' Izumi replied suddenly understanding the predicament, 'but if you pitch the balls to Tajima, you'll make it too easy…'

This earned him another distraught gasp from the team's ace.

'Izumi,' Sakaeguchi admonished him, 'you're making it worse!'

'Mihashi,' Tajima then intervened, 'I think that what they're trying to say is that if you pitch the balls to me you'll do everything you can to correct the trajectory so that they go where you want them to go.'

'But…'

'That's right,' Sakaeguchi said, 'if you throw the balls, you'll probably be able to aim them to a zone where it'll be easy for Tajima to hit them.'

'That's what I was trying to say!' Izumi said looking a little flustered.

'Let's have Oki pitch instead,' Mizutani suggested, 'no offence,' he then added looking at the back up pitcher.

'None taken,' Oki assured him, 'I know that my control is nowhere near as good as his.'

'You're a good pitcher!' Mihashi suddenly exclaimed, 'if…if you try hard, I…'

'How many times will we have to tell you?' Tajima asked him, 'YOU are our ace, ONLY you, okay?'

'That's right,' Oki assured him, 'I don't even like pitching all that much.'

Mihashi stared at him as if he thought Oki had suddenly gone insane. Again, the pitcher's brain could not process how anyone would not enjoy being on the mound, throwing the ball the best way one could…

Lost in his own world, Mihashi missed while Tajima and Oki prepared themselves for the challenge. After clearing a large portion of the terrace, Oki threw a couple of the improvised balls to test how far he could throw them. Then Tajima tried swinging the stick, noticing with pleasure that while the stick was perfectly straight, it still made a really nice swishing sound when cutting through the air. Getting into his favourite stance, the clean-up batter said:

'Alright, I'm ready!'

Everyone else gathered on one side of the table so that they could have a better view.

Oki got into a half wind-up and, making a visible effort, he threw one of the empty packets of crisps as fast as he could. The made up ball travelled in a more or less straight line but, just as it was almost at hitting level, it dove quite dramatically making Tajima miss out quite badly with his otherwise well timed swing.

'Wow,' the batter said excitedly, 'it's harder than I imagined!'

'You can't miss anymore,' Izumi informed him.

'I know,' an unusually serious Tajima said.

'Just out of curiosity,' Mizutani half whispered to Nishihiro, 'what will you make him do if he misses again?'

'No idea,' Nishihiro admitted, 'the truth is, I didn't think it would be so hard.'

They all stared at him while Sakaeguchi shook his head in disbelief. Nishihiro easily was the smartest member of their team but, the secondbase mused that thankfully even Nishihiro could be a bit of a spaz sometimes.

In the meantime, Oki armed another pitch while Tajima adjusted his stance once again. Then, Oki threw the ball which went a little faster than the previous one. This time though, the ball didn't dive forcing Tajima to correct the swing half way through. He also moved backwards a little while he bent his small frame down. These adjustments paid off and, to everyone's astonishment, including Tajima's, the stick cleanly hit the ball sending it flying beyond where Oki stood.

'Tajima-kun is awesome!' Mihashi exclaimed.

'Aren't I?' the batter said looking very pleased with himself, 'come on Oki, throw me another one!'

Nishiura's back up pitcher complied.

One after another, Tajima hit every single one of the balls Oki pitched his way.

'Alright, enough,' Mizutani said.

'Already?' Tajima said looking indecently disappointed, 'but I…'

'There's no need to continue,' Izumi said, 'I mean, you've already mastered the technique, haven't you?'

'Well…yes,' Tajima admitted, 'it really is good training, I think I should ask Momokan to...'

'No way!' Mizutani said, 'there's no way I'm going to train myself doing this. It's hard enough using regular equipment!'

'That's right,' Nishihiro said, then, he asked what everyone wanted to know, 'is there anything you can't do?'

'Er…'

'Because even with schoolwork,' Nishihiro said, 'I sometimes get the feeling that you don't do better simply because you don't really care enough about it to make an effort. Tajima, I've always wanted to tell you this but, if you put a little bit from your part, you'd probably be better than me.'

'That's impossible,' Tajima sentenced, 'besides, studying is so boring!'

Predictably, Mihashi nodded in earnest agreement.

'Oh well,' Nishihiro said glancing at both of his "students", 'at least you two are excellent at baseball.'

Mihashi turned red as a beet while Tajima just smiled and said:

'Alright, it's my turn.'

Hearing this made Sakaeguchi and Oki very nervous. After all, they were the only ones who had yet to take part on the Truth or Dare game. Oki hoped that his collaboration in Tajima's latest success would save him from whatever it was that the most fun loving member of the team would ask them to do.

'Sakeguchi,' the thirdbase said, making Oki sigh in relief, 'Truth or Dare?'

'Dare,' the guy bravely replied.

'Are you sure?' Izumi asked him as though as he though the secondbase was volunteering to be a kamikaze.

'Yes,' Sakaeguchi said, 'what should I do?'

Tajima looked at his fellow baseman seeming almost proud of his courage.

'Aright,' he said, 'you're going to go downstairs and take a picture of one of the six people who are sleeping. I'll let you choose who.'

Sakaeguchi appeared calm and eerily confident while he pondered his choice. The rest of the guys were freaked out at the very thought of going anywhere near any of the sleeping people, let alone with the intention of immortalising their sleeping faces with a camera.

'Let's see,' they heard the team's vice-captain say out loud, 'going into Momokan and Shinooka's room is out of the question, for obvious reasons; I don't particularly want to have a picture of Shiga-sensei when he sleeps so that only leaves Hanai, Abe and Suyama.'

'So, who are you going to pick?' Tajima asked him.

'It's obvious, isn't it?' Sakaeguchi replied.

'Suyama,' everyone else said all at the same time.

Sakaeguchi offered one of his gentle smiles and said:

'That's right. Mizutani, I'm going to need the card to open your room.'

'Alright,' Mizutani said passing the key to his team mate.

'Okay,' Sakaeguchi said getting up from the table, 'I'll be back in a few minutes.'

They all observed him walking out of the terrace with an alarming amount of aplomb.

'Why is he so calm?' Izumi wondered.

'No idea,' Mizutani said.

'It's not fun if he's not nervous about it,' Tajima complained.

'Maybe he's confident he can do it,' Oki suggested.

'Or maybe….' Nishihiro started then, he stopped and shaking his head, he said, 'impossible.'

'What's impossible?' Tajima asked.

'Nothing, it's nothing,' Nishihiro replied.

'Come on, speak up,' Oki prompted him.

'It's just that…' Nishihiro started, 'Sakaeguchi and Suyama are fairly close, aren't they?'

'Yeah,' Izumi replied, 'so?'

'Well,' Nishihiro said, 'I just wonder if Sakaeguchi will just get in the room, explain the situation to Suyama and take a picture of him while he pretends to sleep.'

All five of them stared at him and, even before anyone had a chance to speak, they all got up at the same time, ready to go and follow Sakaeguchi downstairs. Nishihiro had just enough time to consider cleaning up the mess they'd made but, seeing everyone marching out of the terrace, he dismissed the idea and started running after his team mates.

A few instants later, they were all back in the fourth floor corridor. There, they saw Sakaeguchi leaving the Room 403 clutching his phone in his chest, looking absurdly happy and…a little blushed. For some reason, that sight made them all feel they had just witnessed something they weren't supposed to see.

'Guys?' Sakaeguchi whispered, 'what are you doing in here?'

'Er…'

'I don't know you,' Izumi announced all of a sudden, 'but I've had enough fun for tonight, I'm going to go to bed.'

'Me too,' Mizutani agreed then, remembering what had just happened, he looked at Sakaeguchi and said, 'maybe we should switch rooms.'

'Yeah,' Izumi said, 'let's do that.'

'That's not a good idea,' Sakaeguchi commented looking a little disappointed.

'But…'

'I have my stuff in there,' Sakaeguchi explained pointing at Room 404, 'and you have yours in there,' he added pointing at the room he'd just stepped out from, 'we could easily go and get it but, unfortunately, how would we justify to Shiga-sensei that we're not sleeping in our assigned rooms?'

'That's a good point,' Mizutani replied.

'It is,' Izumi admitted, 'either way, I'm going to bed…'

'What about the mess we've made upstairs?' Sakaeguchi reminded them.

'Oki and I will go and clean it up,' Nishihiro said.

'Me?' Oki asked sounding a little dismayed.

'Yes, you,' Nishihiro insisted, 'besides, you're the only one who hasn't played Truth or Dare.'

'That's right,' Tajima said, 'we should…'

He didn't finish the sentence because, right then, they all heard some noise coming from the elevator. Freaking out, they started rushing towards the staircase when, to their surprise, they saw an old man coming out from the elevator. The guy was so drunk he barely noticed them as he made his way to Room 409 but this latest scare convinced everyone (including Tajima) that they've had enough thrills for one evening.

'Alright,' he said, 'I'm going to bed too.'

Just like that and in typical Tajima fashion, the guy who had started it all, just carelessly walked away from them then, half way to his room, he seemed to remember about something. Turning round, he pulled a card from his pocket and, giving it to Mihashi, he grinned at him and whispered:

'Remember, be very careful when you open the door, okay?'

'I will,' the pitcher replied.

'Good,' Tajima said, 'sleep tight.'

With this, he truly left them sanding there. They all observed him opening the door to Room 402 as quietly as possible then, disappearing inside the room. Oki and Nishihiro made their way to the elevator while a slightly freaked out Mizutani went back into his own room, leaving Izumi and Sakaeguchi alone with Mihashi.

'Are you going to be okay?' Sakaeguchi asked the pitcher.

Mihashi just nodded and, as if to prove a point, he quietly padded back to the room he shared with Abe. There, with astounding stealth, he managed to open the door and, very, very slowly, he opened it. Then, before getting in, he turned around and offered them one of his cutest smiles. The two boys just grinned back at him, with Sakaeguchi giving him a good-bye wave.

'What are you doing?' Izumi enquired.

'Eh?' Sakaeguchi said looking at his own hand, 'no idea,' he said putting it down.

Izumi just shook his head and, taking the card from his pocket, he just opened the door to Room 404.

It had been a pretty bizarre night, the boy thought while stepping inside the room.

A few hours later, Abe woke up at exactly five minutes to five. He had always made it a point to wake up a little before the alarm went off so that he would not be startled by it and, normally, he used this time to gather his thoughts before getting up. On that morning, as it turned out, his thoughts needed A LOT of gathering, starting with the abnormal weight he felt on his right shoulder.

Looking down, he saw a mat of unruly light brown hair which looked as soft as it probably felt. The owner of said hair was sleeping quite soundly with his arm draped around Abe's waist.

The catcher remembered about his injured leg just in time to stop himself from jumping out of the bed and, as he fought the mounting panic which was quickly assailing him, he started wondering how Mihashi had ended up sleeping with him. While he compiled a list of reasons, he observed the pitcher's regular breathing.

Abe had already seen Mihashi's sleeping face but it never ceased to amaze him just how beautifully relaxed the boy looked. If only he could look like this when he was awake, it would be truly wonderful, Abe decided.

Distracted by the thought, he found his own hand travelling to Mihashi's hair so that he could feel its softness when, freaking out by the mere idea, Abe pulled his hand forcing it back down on the mattress.

He needed to get Mihashi out of his bed, right at that instant.

'Mihashi,' Abe tried, forcing himself to keep a low tone of voice. Scaring the pitcher was the last thing he wanted to do, 'Mihashi, wake up.'

The smaller boy just stirred in his sleep so Abe grabbed his right shoulder and, remembering it was his pitching arm, he shook the boy as gently as he could.

'Mihashi, please wake up.'

That finally did it.

Slowly, the pitcher opened his eyes, taking a few seconds to focus then, just as suddenly as Abe expected, the boy's eyes widened to nearly inhuman proportions and three things happened at once: Mihashi jumped out of the bed, turned bright red and lost his ability to produce any sounds.

'Mihashi…' Abe started while he pushed himself up into a sitting position, 'it's okay, I…'

'I-I…s-s-s-so…so...' the badly stuttered apology refused to come out.

'It's okay,' Abe repeated, 'I'm not mad.'

'I…'

'Mihashi,' Abe said, 'I'm not mad, not even a little. I don't even want to know how you ended up in my bed but let's not blow it out of proportion, okay?'

Mihashi looked, if possible, even guiltier and none the less embarrassed.

'It's fine,' Abe insisted, 'you probably got up in the middle of the night and…'

For some reason, Mihashi let out a very loud gasp as some tears threatened to appear in his eyes.

'…but it really is okay,' Abe forced himself to finish, 'do NOT start crying first thing in the morning.'

Mihashi gasped again and, as ordered, he proceeded to wipe his eyes dry.

'Can you help me get up?' Abe asked hoping to distract the pitcher by giving him a task.

'S-sure,' Mihashi said hurrying to offer his hand to his catcher.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Abe tried to joke:

'I sure hope you won't make it a habit.'

Mihashi gave him one of his confused looks and that made Abe explain himself a bit better:

'You know, getting up in the middle of the night and…' Abe realised the mistake a little too late and, misinterpreting Mihashi's guilty expression with sadness made him add, 'I was kidding! It's alright…'

'A-Abe-kun, I…'

'It's alright,' Abe repeated, 'if it makes you sleep better, just come to my bed whenever you want.'

Mihashi's face looked so utterly relieved that Abe had to restrain himself to either burst out laughing or, alternatively, shake his head in disbelief. Another part of him felt a little happy that, at long last, Mihashi had given him a sign that he found his presence reassuring, rather than downright scary. This thought made Abe feel sort of okay with sharing his bed with the pitcher.

A little over an hour later, they were all inside the Touri High School's cafeteria enjoying a breakfast that been especially catered for them by their hosts. Tajima, Mihashi, Abe and Hanai were sharing one of the tables when, the team's Captain quietly commented:

'This bread is really good!'

The thirdbase observed his own, still uneaten piece and, without giving it a second thought, he pushed the plate towards Hanai.

'You can have mine,' Tajima said.

'Seriously?' Hanai asked him, eyeing the yummy piece of bread a little bit suspiciously.

'Yes,' Tajima replied then, looking very serious, he added, 'you're taller so you need more food.'

That made Abe and Mihashi stare at Hanai who looked to be flabbergasted by Tajima's words.

'Alright, if you're sure,' the Captain managed to say.

'I am,' Tajima said.

'Thank you,' Hanai said nodding politely while grabbing the piece of bread.

'You're welcome,' Tajima replied sounding equally formal.

While everyone silently wondered the reason why Tajima was going out of his way to be extra nice to their Captain, Momokan briefly smirked at Tajima and, sounding a little-too-casual, she said:

'Shiga-sensei, the night view from the terrace was really amazing, wasn't it?'

Hearing this made seven people nearly choke themselves then, with badly contained panic, Tajima and Mihashi exchanged a glance before, at the same time, shaking their heads as if saying: NO WAY!

FIN.


End file.
